The most recent The Old Republic developer blog talks about maps in the game and the process of making them. These developer blogs are typically interesting but this one I felt was worthy of getting additional attention.

Maps in SWTOR are not only beautiful, but also very detailed and helpful as well as practical. Here’s a few points from the article about maps you might be interested in:

Maps are generated based on the objects that are actually in the world, which makes them really detailed and accurate

Each planet has a master world map, a handful of smaller hub maps that more closely approximate an adventuring zone, and dozens of interior maps

Every mission has one or more icons on the map that show you where to go. Moving your mouse over an icon shows you which mission is satisfied in that area, your progress in that mission, and a rough area where mission objectives can be found.

Breadcrumbing system: if a mission in your mission log is on your planet but not on your map, it will highlight an exit to that map, telling the player which way to go to get to the ‘right’ map. Moving your mouse over the exit will tell the player which missions are to be found in that direction.